Ignore Senate's 'witch-hunt', academics told
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A Senate inquiry into academic freedom begins today. (ABC TV )
The New South Wales Greens say an inquiry into ideological, cultural or political prejudice in schools and universities is a witch-hunt.
Several academics will appear before a Senate inquiry into Australian academic freedom in Sydney today.
NSW Greens MP Dr John Kaye says the inquiry was set up by Coalition Senators at the request of the Young Liberal movement.
"It's looking for Australian academics and teachers who are, in the words of the Young Liberals, trying to impose their ideological, political or cultural prejudices on students," he said.
"This is outrageous, Australian universities deserve much better than this. They're being used as a punching bag by Liberal Senators."
Dr Kaye says the Senators on the committee should ignore the inquiry's terms of reference.
"Unless [the terms of reference] are ignored they could end up stifling academic independence, academic freedom and freedom of expression in schools and universities around Australia," he said.
"This would be a dreadful outcome at a time when we're already facing a skills shortage, and when universities and schools are already under enormous pressure."
Earlier this year, the Young Liberals ran a campaign in universities and high schools called 'Make Education Fair'.
The campaign asked for students to tell them about any teachers or lecturers who expressed anti-Liberal sentiments.
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Comments (59)
Comments for this story are closed. No new comments can be added. If you would like to have your say on this issue, you can do so via the Emails section of our Opinion pages.
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Tim:
09 Oct 2008 8:21:19am
How about an inquiry into totally unnecessary and resource wasting inquiries? How come academics can't 'sell' their opinion but the current affair programs in the 6:30pm timeslot can pedal total emotive and divisive rubbish?
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Annika:
09 Oct 2008 8:32:59am
What an abuse of process, and what a waste of taxpayers money. This should be stopped immediately.
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ravensclaw:
09 Oct 2008 8:34:39am
That is because it is unprofessional for academics to "sell" their opinion.
It is that simple!
Tabloid rubbish on TV is no comparison!
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Shaun:
09 Oct 2008 8:37:14am
Some would argue that it is because current affairs producers are not funded by the taxpayer.
I don't think it really makes any difference. Academics should be allowed freedom of thought and speech. It's up to individual students to question what they are taught, which they certainly should be able to do from a university level.
Whether they have a point on primary and secondary education standards is another matter entirely.Agree (0) Alert moderator
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Chris:
09 Oct 2008 8:48:31am
Academics are not much funded by taxpayers these days. The privatisation of universities has meant that in some cases less than a quarter of income comes form government sources, the rest from private. In any case, this is irrelevant. If universities cannot support and defend free speech then we're all in trouble. This Senate "inquiry" is yet another piece of oppressive erosion of Australia's civil liberties. All academics should resist such outrages.
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Tom:
09 Oct 2008 8:38:24am
Maybe we need to extend this to keep tabs on the general population. Anyone who expressed anti-Liberal sentiments can be sent to some special camps for "re-education".
The young Liberals can be the enforcers - Lets call em the "lib youth". Maybe they can wear some red armbands so that people give them the appropriate respect.Agree (1) Alert moderator
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whitelephant:
09 Oct 2008 8:54:46am
Tom, "maybe we need to extend this to keep tabs on the general population".
We've already got it mate-had it for years-it's called ASIO.Agree (0) Alert moderator
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Ian:
09 Oct 2008 8:25:33am
"A true teacher defends his pupils against his personal influence" Amos Alcott 1799-1888
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John C:
09 Oct 2008 8:27:49am
I am shocked and bemused by this all at once. Perhaps I was naive to think this sort of behavior would never occur in Australia. A political party openly encouraging the monitoring of the way people think at university - no they have no other agenda, of course not.
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Wake up Australia:
09 Oct 2008 9:08:34am
err John, its not about the 'thinking' - its about the indoctrination and the failure of teachers to present any issue in a completely unbiased and balanced way devoid of indicating personal opinion. After all its called education not indocrination.
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david:
09 Oct 2008 9:40:00am
You mean presenting issues in a way you disagree with. the conservative forces in Australia have a history of trying to control the national agenda, and don't like independent thought, or ideas that are different to their's. We saw this played out by the culture wars Howard launched on our universities and it has severely damaged their independence. Just like a totalitarian state.
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bjh:
09 Oct 2008 9:59:16am
A university education is about learning how to think not what to think.
the real world presents issues from biased stand points all the time. If a lecturer presents material you do not agree with then call them on it, in class. the majority of what you hear will be neutral (hard to bring a political spin to a stats class) and some of it you will agree with.
I don't think this is some machiavellean force to make universities liberal, I think this is some machiavellean force to make universities boring.Agree (0) Alert moderator
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Bard:
09 Oct 2008 9:14:03am
It's just an inquiry as to whether academics and teachers try to impose their ideological, political or cultural prejudices on students.
Inquiries are part of the parliamentary process as are the "Young Liberals" movement and the NSW Greens.
Besides,........if subtle political indoctrination doesn't happen at all in universities & schools....why then are the Greens worried?
I personally think that whilst not endemic, that an inquiry will uncover plenty of evidence of political indoctrination on young minds (from both sides of politics) and this inquiry is the first step in getting it weeded out.Agree (0) Alert moderator
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ravensclaw:
09 Oct 2008 8:33:01am
Do you notice it is the leftist political fringe dwellers claiming this is a witch hunt. This from the NSW Greens that want to ban drug sniffing dogs and legalise all illicit drugs including those that induce rages.
Of course if it was the conservative side claiming the witch hunt the Greens would want mass resignations of the entire education system.
Politics and Historical Revisionism should be kept out of our schools unless it is an elective subject actually dealing with that subject matter.
I know this for a fact. I experienced it when I was at school in the 80's. This is not a new issue, however the revisionism is getting bolder and bolder. When I was at school I had to read the literally plotless book "My Brilliant Career". If there was ever a disincentive to pursue a literacy field this book is it.
The Greens are simply a front for Leninism. You'd do well to always bet that the opposite of what they say is fact.
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Guantlet:
09 Oct 2008 8:53:09am
When I was at university, students were constant targets of the Greens and their socialist left wing associates trying to recruit around the campus. The Greens are a fringe political group more adept at basket weaving and smoking their socks than making intelligent political commentary. If they request an apolitical climate, then I suggest they lead the way.
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Skewer:
09 Oct 2008 9:25:58am
Ignorant name-calling directed at the Greens doesn't change the fact that they are actually a mainstream political party.
They have had Senators in most jurisdictions for decades now - doing a good job of representing the well-educated people who vote for them.
And they got around DOUBLE the votes of the Nationals at the last Federal Election.
We'd all like to think pollies we disagree with are "brainwashing" voters but believe it or not voters aren't that dumb.Agree (0) Alert moderator
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ravensclaw:
09 Oct 2008 10:18:54am
Skewer
The Greens are a minor party, not a mainstream party. Their memberbase is one of activism and cynics. Thier ideology is more anticapitalist than environmental. So yes I would call them extreme fringedwellers and Leninists.
Cyncial opinion is usually unhelpful, and activism is about cherry picking and obstruction at its best, and blatant deceit and law breaking at its worst.
Green voters well educated???? - I'll leave that one alone.
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Kara:
09 Oct 2008 9:01:12am
Greens want to legalise all illicit drugs do they? And are a front for Leninism? Educate your opinions before you air them in public.
You see, an educated opinion is the most dangerous, as it has more power, reason and rationality than any other kind. This may be why the "Young liberals" aren't liking the "left-wing" opinions shown by some academics.
However, realistically for every left wing opinion there is a right wing one. I had both in my schooling and am glad for it, as it help to shape my own ideals and thoughts on matters and be sure that they really fitted with my way of thinking.
A witch hunt encouraged by one side and questioned by the other is obviously not balanced. Freedom of expression cannot be undermined.
How are we to expect the young generation to be engaged with current affairs (not the tabloid tv show) and politics if we shelter them? How can they form an educated opinion if they aren't hearing any themselves?
The more talk the better if you ask me.Agree (0) Alert moderator
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Jim Bendfeldt:
09 Oct 2008 9:01:21am
If (as you claim) the Greens are a front for Leninism, then the Young Liberals must be a front for the HitlerJugend, because they are certainly behaving that way. The only difference is that like their colleagues in the National Front they've substituted their jack boots with Doc Martens.
The Young Liberals should return to what they are best at: playing Monopoly, B&S balls, booze-ups and afternoon teas with cold cucumber sandwiches.Agree (0) Alert moderator
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Patch:
09 Oct 2008 9:27:11am
Politics comes into almost every subject at university, because politics is not divorced from real life. That is the way it should be.
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Kocsonya:
09 Oct 2008 9:46:48am
Have you actually read their policies? It's available on their website. They pretty much advocate for a Scandinavian type social-democratic system (wellfare state), with strong emphasis on personal liberty plus the priority of human and environmental interests over corporate interests. Neither the basic Marxist premise (the means of production shall not be privately owned) nor the Leninist stance on the power (control should be seized, even by revolution, and must be retained by a selected elite of the working class) appear anywhere in their program.
By the way, the good ol' commie countries in the Eastern Block did actually ban drugs. Furthermore, remember, Marx called religion "the opium of the masses", so he was not a big believer of mind altering drugs either.
Reading the policies of the Greens and reading Das Kapital from Marx and for example State and Revolution from Lenin (both have been translated to English) would make it obvious that the Greens are very, very far from Leninism (or from Marxism, for that matter). In fact, Tovarish Lenin was not a big fan of social democracy at all; he would not have liked the Greens - they would have been way too right-wing economically and ultra-left radicals on the civil liberties arena for his taste.Agree (0) Alert moderator
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Random:
09 Oct 2008 8:47:34am
I am a member of the Liberal Party, and I am also a student. To be completely honest with you, I find these attempts by the Young Liberal Movement to be a complete embarrassment. I have written essays from a whole range of different opinions, and I have never been faced with political bias in the marking. Yes, of course some teachers will disagree with you, but I have never had them mark me down because of it.
I just think there are some people out there who don't know how to write academically, and rather than learn, call it academic bias.
The YL's really need to grow upAgree (1) Alert moderator
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Guantlet:
09 Oct 2008 8:59:40am
Bias in marking has always been around and always will be. The old adage, if you write what the marker wants to hear you'll get higher marks, still holds true.
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hugh jampton:
09 Oct 2008 9:27:00am
On reading this I was reminded of the old adage that if you throw enough mud some of it will stick.
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david:
09 Oct 2008 9:46:07am
Can you prove this? Or is this some stereotype you are mindlessly repeating for our benefit. I know quite a few academics and I know for a fact that they mark the student essays based on how well reasoned their arguments are, how well researched and how well presented. They don't mark the essays based on whether they agree with the student's view on the topic.
Issues of academic integrity need to be dealt with on a case by case basis, just like in any other field of work. To try to impose a particularly ideology on them like the Young Liberals are is a step towards a totalitarian state.Agree (0) Alert moderator
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Gauntlet:
09 Oct 2008 9:56:26am
I can no further prove this than you can prove that it is not so. I know of a number of students who wrote pursuasive essays with contrary opinions to those of the faculty and were marked down. On demanding a remark from an independent source, the said paper was given a Distinction. Can you explain this? Of course there is bias in marking, to think otherwise is to be naive.
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Chappy:
09 Oct 2008 9:17:50am
Hi Random...there's a bit of a difference, in my opinion, between discussions/views put forth to the range of audiences as stated in the article. As you are an adult student, you are able to state your views and of course defend them also. It is a different matter to have teachers (read...position of authority) expessing their personal views, as disguised as curriculum, to younger audiences of primary and secondary school students. Without trying to seem too dramatic....I view this as teachers (some) abusing their position of influence.
Yuo only have to sit down with your teenagers at dinner time to here the evidence..."Mr. X reckons this about the Iraq war.....and Miss Y reckons that about politics..." Believe me it is alive and well.
I personally witnessed, when my daughters were in primary school, a female headmistress make young kids cry at assembly when she told them it was wrong to give out Xmas cards to their friends at the end of the year because....get this...."it was cruel because trees had to die in order to make those cards."....true story. Nothing about giving to and loving your friends and the spirit of Xmas...it was all about making the kids feel guilty to satisfy this ladys' agenda...needless to say she was howled down by parents in the childrens absence.
regards.Agree (0) Alert moderator
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Allan Lewis:
09 Oct 2008 8:48:26am
I suppose that if one can't produce research that meets with one's political leanings, one simply has one's political mates do a bit of heavy leaning instead.
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Wake up Australia:
09 Oct 2008 8:49:46am
This Senate enquiry into the embedded disgraceful leftie/greenie indocrination of our children is long overdue. Lets hope that it can make some difference, but it will be extremely difficult given the entrenched blinkered attitudes in the teaching profession.
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Treadlightly:
09 Oct 2008 9:03:43am
'Entrenched, blinkered attitudes';
You mean people with educations in areas other than business, economics and law.
People who can see the destruction of the environment and the social breakdown caused by corporate profiteers, because that's what they've been studying in such an 'entrenched and blinkered' way.
Hmm.Agree (0) Alert moderator
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Jamie Bloomfield:
09 Oct 2008 9:13:52am
Exactly WHAT do you mean by "disgraceful left/greenie indoctrination of our children"?. I take it you mean terrible things like tolerance, equality, respect for the environment, respect for the rule of law etc. - basically everything that Coalition hacks are opposed to.
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wmc:
09 Oct 2008 9:49:43am
Tolerance from leftie/greenies? Talk about laugh. Academics and leaders of academic institutions don't tolerate anyone who has right-of- centre views. Instead, they pine for the days when economic vandals like Whitlam were running the place.
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Jamie Bloomfield:
09 Oct 2008 10:15:44am
Right of centre views usually espouse inequality, intolerance, discrimination, climate change denial, an anything goes every man for himself attitude. Those views SHOULD NOT be tolerated. That is exactly why the world is in the mess it is in.
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Nenad:
09 Oct 2008 8:51:34am
Is it just me, or are the libs often accusing educated people of being against them?
Maybe they should take the hint.Agree (0) Alert moderator
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davo:
09 Oct 2008 9:11:49am
The Conservatives fear an educated working class. Cant have them thinking, they might become upstarts and want to have a part in the political decision making process. For the born to rule Libs this is a total upset of the 'natural' order of things.
The Libs have been pushing this education for the rich idea for years by making it harder for working people to go to university by steadily increasing the HECS contribution. Even if someone of limited means does struggle through the education system, they are saddled with a huge debt at graduation which will keep them in their place for years to come.
It even starts in the school system before university, support for private schools is a free flowing tap, whilst public education (where most future Labor voters attend) is given a dribble of funding.Agree (0) Alert moderator
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James Newburrie:
09 Oct 2008 10:20:38am
That's complete rubbish. Liberalism is about individualism - if a person gets themselves educated, works hard so on I really want them to suceed, regardless of their political views. In my experience at UQ there was some merit to these views. I would suggest that of the roughly 50 instructors I had, over 4.5 years I can remember 4 of them going on a rant about 'the liberals'. Of course this was during some particular taxing NTU stuff. Everyone that marked my assignments at UQ Business school was a complete professional, there is one with whom I still completely disagree but it was a minor paper and wasn't political in nature.
However there are there are documented cases of people at UQ failing because they challenge a leftist view in the arts school - these things normally get dealt with by the UQ Senate. So, what's wrong with having a hearing to establish that people are marked on the quality of their work, not the arguments that they make?
And, to say that schools are not funded by liberals is just laughable - THEY'RE STATE SCHOOLS! The federal government, in my opinion, should not fund them. Have a look at what public money schools gets per student, and for laughs, why not include the states. This is the problem with lefties - they're not actually objective, they're too busy encouraging reletivism.
And this is the problem with our universities - people aren't learning about the nature of truth, they're forced to think in terms of relativism, where there is no knowable truth. As bad as it is for the students, relativism is worse for the academics.Agree (0) Alert moderator
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Thinner:
09 Oct 2008 9:29:01am
A bit sad when far-right anti-intellectualism gets federal funding. Couldn't the money wasted on this sort of thing go to a worthier cause - like a bursary for someone who otherwise could not afford to go to university?
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Rosemary:
09 Oct 2008 8:53:48am
Will they inquire into political appointees like Chancellors who attempt to impose a business ethic and a hierarchy with a Chancellor at the apex, of Universities' governance? Will the Howard Chancellors who operate outside their briefs to implement a non-University model step aside?
I'd like to see that!Agree (0) Alert moderator
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wmc:
09 Oct 2008 9:13:24am
I hope they enquire into why governance at universities is such a joke. There is no governance worthy of the name. A business ethic and business practices should be imposed by universities, whose leaders have a left-wing, 1970s mentality.
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Willster:
09 Oct 2008 8:53:52am
Greens MP what's his name says ""It's looking for Australian academics and teachers who are, in the words of the Young Liberals, trying to impose their ideological, political or cultural prejudices on students,"
So what he's actually saying is that in the Green book it's fine for academics and teachers to impose their ideological, political and cultural prejudices on students.
Sorry mate, but just because much of the bias would probably match your own doesn't make it OK.Agree (0) Alert moderator
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John O:
09 Oct 2008 8:55:03am
My daughter has a very left wing leaning teacher who imposes his views on the students and crushes any dissenting opinion expressed.
Teachers should be showing our kids how to think not what to think.Agree (0) Alert moderator
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Chappy:
09 Oct 2008 10:02:05am
Whether the teachers (primary/secondary) are biased left or right is one thing, it's the (as you say), "imposes his views on the students and CRUSHES any DISSENTING OPINIONS" that concerns me. The kids don't possess the acumen or power/authortity to counter his view. Adult students have the ability to express their OWN views and the alsopower to defend them without the thought/duress of adverse consequence.
Ironic isn't it that we have laws to protect us, as adults, from the views of taxi-drivers but we don't have laws to protect young kids from the personal views of their teachers....in some instances/topics I'd give more credibility to the worldly opinions of the taxi-drivers....scary thought hey...Agree (0) Alert moderator
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chris:
09 Oct 2008 8:58:50am
You must be jokeing are we going to be like China is this what the Libs stand for stoping freedom of speaking our oppinions about them !!This is how the nazis took over and how china is today !!!
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James:
09 Oct 2008 9:33:15am
The idea of an apolitical educational environment is a myth. Education, whether in Australia or anywhere else is by definition a politically infused activity. What we consider 'neutral' ground is in fact as ideologically rich as that on the far left, the only difference being at least academics are honest about their idelological presuppositions. The right (young libs) promote their ideological standpoing as 'neutral' (a naturally accepted way of things), which in my opinion is much more dangerouse and much less tolerant.
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Dale:
09 Oct 2008 9:08:43am
How about the Young Liberals have an inquiry of their own into internal corruption within the Young Liberals. Remember the NO VSU signs at ANU getting vandalised and turned into VSU signs? I wonder who was responsible for that?
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Jef:
09 Oct 2008 9:37:37am
Hmmm, as a 31 year old university student studying to be a teacher I am very disturbed by this. I'm already concerned about my choice of new career because of the legal minefield that teachers are exposed to on a daily basis. Not to mention the rules, regulations and policies that are already not understood by the majority of teachers because they are so plentiful and in a lot of cases ridiculous.
Yes in an ideal world teachers would be completely unbiased in their approach. That's what we're taught at university and I agree that teachers should try their best.
But, constructivism in both it's social and radical elks are the barrow that universities, education authorities and schools are pushing at the moment and this really does imply that no one can be truley unbiased.
Let's be realistic about this, if a teacher is worth anything it's because they are passionate about making a difference to young lives. If they have no passion then they really shouldn't be there. If they do have passion it has to be driven by something, and in a lot of cases these a spired by strong beliefs. Even if a teacher shows both sides on an argument, at the end of the day it is always going to have a slant on it, no matter how hard they try to prevent it.
As far as not teaching politic in schools... Are you serious!!?? What we want a whole bunch of 18 year old people coming out of the schools with the only understanding of politics to be the mis guided emotivly fed indoctrination of their parents ideals which were those of their parents, parents with no real understanding of what idioligies our political parties use and no idea how our political system works? My god. What a disaster.
And all of this rubbish I have typed above makes no mention of what a disgrace this political oppression is on our society. Perhaps I should move to China and teach there, by the time I have finished my degree it may be a more politically free country than ours....Agree (0) Alert moderator
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Katie:
09 Oct 2008 9:40:24am
Many teachers are left-leaning, Labour (even Green) voters. We are community-minded, work harder than most for less than we should and carry enormous responsibility. Not the Liberal way, really.
While it is obvious that teachers should not impose their beliefs on students in the way John O describes - there are always going to be teachers in any students life that teach them life's lesson that not all people are reasonable and rational. Some people's views are so strong they can see no other way. Any education will include exposure to people with whom you do not agree and who may be in a position of power that disadvantages you. Life is full of humans with frailties.
Live and learn and move on.Agree (0) Alert moderator
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RG:
09 Oct 2008 9:15:21am
Take a trip to one of your local uni's and sneak in a politics or sociology class. Listen to some of the lecturer's tripe and then tell me that this committee isn't a waste of time.
From my days at uni, which wasn't long ago, there really wasn't a day that went past when you didn't hear some worthless academic boasting a whole heap of socialist and communist rhetoric.
Some lecturer's have disassociated themselves from society to an extensive degree and it's usually these quacks that influence future generations.Agree (0) Alert moderator
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Shaun:
09 Oct 2008 9:17:58am
This is nonsense! Everyone has there own opinions about everything, including academics, and believe it or not, students have minds of their own too. I'm a university student, and lecturers regularly make comments such as "in my opinion this theory doesn't explain everything it claims to", or "this theory is rubbish." The point is that it is up to the student to accept those comments or contest them.
Personally, I've had a few discussions with lecturers and tutors debating certain theories and airing my views about them. So should I also be held before this inquiry because I might be tainting the student pool? This inquiry makes it look like students are sponges, taking in everything they're fed without question, when in fact that is hardly the case. Students can think for themselves and do disregard theories or statements that they don't totally agree with.
Everyone is entitled to their own ideological, political or cultural views, including academics, and it's pretty naive to think that those views are only imposed on others in an academic setting. These kind of views and opinions are built up over a lifetime by experiences and your parents, a 3 or 4 year university degree is not going to change your views, especially so because you are much older and more mature by the time you enter university and so are less likely to change them.
This is just a complete waste of time and money!Agree (0) Alert moderator
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bitrich:
09 Oct 2008 9:21:08am
Bias in tertiary humanties courses are almost to be expected. The market will decide what a dgree is really worth.
My major concern is the insidious bias in NSW public primary schools - don't go looking for balance when it comes to climate change, rice growing in Australia or the Apology to Stolen Generations. There exists a 21st century 'witch hunt' against those with alternative points of view.Agree (0) Alert moderator
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Bob:
09 Oct 2008 9:23:02am
Hahahaha once again the Young Libs have to take their cues from College Republicans in the US. Accusing Uni lecturers of 'bias' is straight out of the CR playbook.
Are these people capable of coming up with an idea on their own, or do they have to cop everything from the US?Agree (0) Alert moderator
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DougalLongfoot:
09 Oct 2008 9:23:06am
Why are people so worried about what the lecturers say and think? You've only got to put up with each one for 14 weeks and then you're on to the next one. Study the material, get your results and get on with life.
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Brian:
09 Oct 2008 9:23:59am
Instead of wasting money on this rubbish they need to realise that the Liberals cut uni funding.
It's like the school bully complaining that the kids he beat up don't like him.
As if Academics should be forced to promote the Liberal party in our Universities. This inquiry is a farce.Agree (0) Alert moderator
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wmc:
09 Oct 2008 10:13:32am
The Coalition cut uni funding and funding in other areas because of the appalling fiscal mess created by the last Labor government. The new Labor government inherited a federal government balance sheet that is the envy of the world and will help the nation in the current financial crisis.
The Coalition refused to increase university funding because universities couldn't manage existing funding competently.
Notwithstanding this, the Coalition created an enduring endowment fund for universities. Labor supported that policy and has added to the fund. Naturally, that wouldn't be enough for wasteful, profligate universities.Agree (0) Alert moderator
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vic:
09 Oct 2008 9:30:55am
Why doesn't AUntie quote the terms of reference in ful to allow Dr Kaye's comments to be assessed also. For ther record:
Terms of Reference
Senator Fifield, pursuant to notice of motion not objected to as a formal motion, moved business of the Senate notice of motion no. 3That the following matter be referred to the Education, Employment and Workplace Relations Committee for inquiry and report by 11 November 2008:
The current level of academic freedom in school and higher education, with particular reference to:
the level of intellectual diversity and the impact of ideological, political and cultural prejudice in the teaching of senior secondary education and of courses at Australian universities, including but not limited to:
the content of curricula,
the content of course materials,
the conduct of teaching professionals, and
the conduct of student assessments;
the need for the teaching of senior secondary and university courses to reflect a plurality of views, be accurate, fair, balanced and in context; and
ways in which intellectual diversity and contestability of ideas may be promoted and protected, including the concept of a charter of academic freedoms.Agree (0) Alert moderator
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Kilroy Montgomery:
09 Oct 2008 9:33:47am
What a joke!
The Greens are opposing an inquiry the purpose of which is to make education impartial.
No matter what the outcome, it looks like the very presence of such an inquiry has revealed who the inequitable parties are as they show their true colours.
Good show!Agree (0) Alert moderator
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davo:
09 Oct 2008 9:38:07am
If the so-called left wing indoctrination of our student body is come all pervasive and has been for decades, how is it that there are still many in the community ie Liberal Party supporters around who are opposed to the principles of left-wing philosophy. The comments just on this forum indicate that there is a diversity of views in the community. This diversity of opinion is a good and healthy thing and is a compliment to Australian society that people are allowed to have differing opinions. (even if the other half are wrong. lol)
If the so-called indoctrination were to be complete, then they would not exist at all.
Wake up people and allow diversity of opinion to flourish.Agree (0) Alert moderator
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Emma:
09 Oct 2008 9:58:15am
It is always in the interests of conservative governments to dumb-down their population, because it keeps them in power. Look at America.
Poorly educated people, that are not exposed to the critical conceptual skills and the questioning of the status quo and basis of knowledge and information we receive that academic training gives are less likely to question those that abuse power.
They are more likely to respond to fear and scaremongering campaigns (e.g Tampa), less likely to understand the complexity of the critical problems that society faces (e.g climate change) and are more likely to be intolerant of the kinds of progressive policy action that the modern state requires to govern effectively.
It comes as no surprise that the out-going Liberal government choose to witch-hunt academics - they've politicized public education in terms of school curriculums and the ABC Board (e.g appointment of stolen generation denier and Howard crony Keith Windschuttle). And given how wasteful the Howard government was, I'm also not surprised they would use tax-payers money to do it for ideological purposes
The problem for liberals is that interfering in the right of individuals to express their own views just because it doesn't align with the liberals is that it contradicts their free-market ideals. Howard afterall thought of Australians as consumers rather than citizens, who could be free to pick and choose to pay through the nose for child-care, private health and anything else he decided to sell off. Those same Australians are equally free not to listen to academics whose views they don't share - they can sign up for classes at an Exclusive Brethren college if it offends.
We've all had to put up with researchers from "independent think tanks" like Howard's good buddy Gerard Henderson biased droning on AM for 11 years - so can we get a senate inquiry into the real political alignments of "independent think tank research" too?Agree (0) Alert moderator
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Rentonio:
09 Oct 2008 10:19:59am
This is an inquiry on how to restrict academic freedom. I am a history student and plan to be a teacher. The scholarship I read and content of my lectures is based upon an understanding of current social and literal theory - ways of making sense of what is happening in the world. Seeing as much of what happens in the world is rubbish, there is bound to be a degree of criticism.
Many of my lecturers have made a point of saying that its actually better to not agree with the scholarship, as long as your argument holds water.
Does it not occur to anyone that the academic role it to provide a critique of society? And any critique would be pointless if it did not involve criticism, an understanding of the faults?
This is a witch hunt. "They don't have to burn the books. They just remove them."Agree (0) Alert moderator
